The students of class 1-A entered their homeroom to find fliers laid neatly on their desks. The brightly colored papers explained the rules of the Couples' Matching Game in a brief yet thorough manner. Excitement spread almost tangibly throughout the classroom.

"Oooh, I remember this game from junior high! How lucky that we get the chance to play it again," one girl remarked, here eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, it's nostalgic, huh?" replied another dreamily, laying a cheek against her palm.

"Huh?" a third spoke up. "I wasn't in middle school with you guys, so I've never played it before." Her eyes scanned the flier, and color gradually spread to her face. "It sounds interesting," she muttered breathily.

It wasn't long at all before Haruhi walked into the room, and everyone knew without a doubt that the twins were right behind her. They looked on at the door expectantly. Sure enough, as soon as Haruhi had taken her seat, the two Hitachiins leapt into the room.

"Couples' Matching Gaaame!" They called out in unison to polite applause from some of their female classmates. When all was quiet, they continued with their act, speaking in turns.

"As you can see, there is a flier an each of your desks," Kaoru said.

"Read it over to understand the rules of our game. When you've finished, punch out the perforated-edged card in the center of the flier and clearly print your name on the back," Hikaru added.

"When you're finished, leave the card on your desk. The flier may be discarded."

"Cards will be collected during lunch period. If you do not wish to participate in the game, simply discard your flier."

"And that's all the rules! Begin!" They finished, speaking in unison once again, and then took their respective seats.

"What's all of this about?" Haruhi muttered to Kaoru, scrutinizing him with a suspicious look.

"Just watch," he said, grinning a signature devilish smile.

Haruhi shrugged and turned to her textbook. As expected, she slipped the flier into her desk without the slightest intention of filling it out.

"Haruhi-kun, you're not participating?" crooned Momoka.

That's such a shame; I would have liked to see the results," a girl who frequented the host club reflected, with a slightly pouty look.

Haruhi smiled refreshingly and turned in her seat to face the girls. "I just don't think this sort of thing can be determined by a game," she said. "It seems inappropriate to say that someone's true match can be told by randomly dealt cards."

"Well said, Haruhi! You're such an inspiration!" said one girl, clapping her hands lightly. "You think so deeply about things."

Several other girls nodded and muttered in consent, but filled out their cards all the same.

The time dragged on before lunch period. Several were unsure that the time would ever come, as time seemed stopped in its place, displayed faithfully by the classroom's wall clock. This was the spell the Hitachiin brothers unfailingly cast on those around them. Where the two were concerned, there was fun to be had, and a good deal in the way of expectation. Even many of those not believing in such a crude way of telling the desires of one's heart ventured to fill out the colorful cards. It was Hikaru and Kaoru's idea, after all, and no one could find a reason to disobey the curiosity and excitement the twins were capable of planting within them.

From across the classroom, Kaoru could see that there was a slight problem. He'd been watching Kazukiyo whenever he could manage it inconspicuously, and he didn't seem to be filling out his card. He stared at it on the desk, not touching it, as if it was corrosive. Eventually he picked it up and surveyed it for a moment, his eyes scanning the same lines again and again. He gulped and shoved it into his desk. Kaoru shook his head. He'd just have to make sure that Kazukiyo participated, even if it meant confronting him directly and risking giving away his motives.

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I have to say that being in this class always keeps me on my toes. It's always interesting, to say the very least.

I stared at that flier for a long time, trying to decide what to do. Everyone tends to go along with whatever the twins come up with, and I'm not usually an exception to the rule, either, despite what might be expected of someone such as me. Playing along with the Hitachiins is just something we all do. This, however, set me thinking. I realized that some other students had slipped the fliers into their desks, hardly touching them. They had mentioned that there was a special protocol for people who didn't wish to fill them out. Maybe, then, the twins hadn't planned for everyone to participate. I mulled that over in my mind a bit. I glanced back at Momoka. She was printing her name neatly on the back of her card. But of course she would; most of the girls were. This kind of thing appeals to girls. I let the fantasy of Momoka and I drawing each other's names grace my mind for a moment, but the idea was so unlikely that I had to laugh it off. I picked up my flier to read over the guidelines. My eyes stopped on one particular line. Puzzled, I read it over to make sure I'd interpreted it correctly.

"Please note that entries are secret. By filling out a card, you are hereby agreeing not to share your results."

That didn't really make sense. Of course, it is unreasonable to keep such a thing a secret. The girls, especially, would definitely share their results with their friends. That was how this kind of game of luck and chance worked. Getting and sharing your results was the whole point, wasn't it? This smelled of Hitachiin mischief, and something about it didn't sit right with me. I gulped and slid the flier into my desk. It was no good trying to figure out what to do right now. I'd have to think it over a little more thoroughly and interpret the trick in those words. Maybe they just meant to discourage the sharing of results, at least initially? But why…?

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"Interesting."

Kazukiyo jumped. Lunch period had just started. No sooner had he pulled the bento out from his desk than Kaoru's voice sounded in his ear. The softer-spoken of the two twins was leaning over Kazukiyo's shoulder. "There's nothinghere for me to collect. Could it be? You didn't fill out a card?"

Kazukiyo's face flushed. "I'm not exactly in to this kind of thing," he muttered quickly. He felt like he should be kinder to the twin who'd heard his feelings and consoled him so easily, but the Kaoru who'd just accosted him was practically a different person from the one who'd spoken to him so gently that day when they were trapped in the darkened school together. It was hard to know how to react.

"Oh, is that so?" Kaoru leaned in closer yet, and spoke in a softer tone, so as to prevent the rest of the lingering students from catching what he was saying. "You're the only one, Souga-kun, who likes someone in this class, and yet did not fill out a card."

Kazukiyo shook his head. "How do you know? Don't most people keep those things to themselves?"

Kaoru put a finger to his temple. "I suppose there's no way to know for sure, but… everyone filled out a card except myself and Hikaru, who are running the game, and Fujioka Haruhi, who simply would not comply, even after several attempts of persuasion."

"What?!" Kazukiyo looked around the classroom. He'd been sure there had been others who didn't fill out a card.

"Some were very discrete about it. It was as if they didn't want the others to know they were participating. Hmmm." Kaoru was playing this all out like a well-rehearsed act, and Kazukiyo wasn't sure what his lines were. He stayed silent for a moment, chewing on his lower lip, as if waiting for a prompter to help him along.

"Can I… can I ask…?"

"Oh?"

"What's this about not being allowed to show you results?"

Kaoru smiled knowingly, as if he'd known all along what Kazukiyo would say. "This is a game that you must play for yourself, and only yourself. We can not be sure that participants will not share their results, but by requesting that they do so, we are upholding the goal of the game. After all, it's no one else's business who your one true match is."

"That's ridiculous," Kazukiyo retorted, "there's no way you can really tell your true match with a game like this."

"Of course," Kaoru responded without missing a beat, "but in real life, the person you are meant to be with is no one else's business. When you come to know who that person is, that knowledge belongs to you alone. Others can persuade you to reconsider, but they can't see or touch the pure feeling within you. This little game of ours emulates that principle."

Kazukiyo lowered his eyes, trying to make sense of what Kaoru had said. "Here, just take it," he said at last, offering his Couples' Matching card over his shoulder.

"Ah, what's this? You've already filled it out."

"I did it discretely… I hadn't decided whether to hand it in or not. Since you seem so persistent, I'll participate after all."

Kaoru smiled. He patted Kazukiyo on the shoulder and left him without saying another word.

Perfect. Things would go according to plan after all.

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First off, an apology. I know this chapter was incredibly boring. Think of it as the written equivalent of a filler episode. I'm sorry to post when I really didn't have anything written… at least nothing interesting. Gah. I didn't really mean for it to happen this way, but the "rising action" bit of the story changed in content a bit when I was writing it, so now I have to go back and change the climax. In other words, this section ended up working out differently content-wise and somehow became chapter-length, so the actually interesting part of the story had to be cut and separated into another chapter. What this means is this: this story was meant to be three parts. Two chapters would sum up the story, and then an epilogue would serve to reflect on it and tell what happens afterwards. Now I need three chapters, maybe even four, before the epilogue.

So, yeah, moving on. I tried my best to keep everyone in character since I failed at it so badly in the last chapter. Haruhi had a bit of dialogue, so I got to write words into her mouth for the first time! Since Hikaru is such a challenge for me, I focused on Kaoru with most of the dialogue. Kazukiyo has become a bizarre character whose personality resembles my brother's and my own. I'm so attached to him already!

I meant to include some reader requests in this chapter, but I don't think I got around to any, other than Allan's request to see more of the twins being clever and evil. XD Look forward to seeing more requests in the next chapter, since it should have more "action".

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I have my next Tetsuya x Kasanoda chapter in the works too, so please tell me if you'd like to see that, the next chapter of this, or a new couple next time. It really helps me if I know what to focus on. Thanks again for reading! Keep the requests coming. Remember, reviews are my life energy! And I will see you all next time.